Unpopular take: I have no opinion or knowledge on constitutionality but electoral bonds solved a genuine issue- that donors should be able to donate clean KYC money to political parties without risk of being harassed. Yes, there is an irreconcilable conflict….(1/4) …between that and a “voters right to know”. And the executive does have enough levers to be able to harass corporates. All this does is move donations to cash for anonymity. Which has the unintended consequence of increasing dirty money. Unless you ban cash donations…..(2/4)

Thread: Some fear that there will be a death of democracy and a single thought that the entire country will be governed by.

This is only if you haven’t been paying attention to discourse. There is intense debate *within* Hindutva. Yes, what will be irrelevant ….(1/n) ….are Indian liberals, and no tears should be shed for that, as there was no value addition to the world of ideas by them anyway.

The intense, even (needlessly) fractious debates within Hindutva include:

1. The relationship between tradition and “modernity” (2/n)

2 hypotheses that will make each side uncomfortable:

The first: Global Islamic terrorism (that is largely Al Qaeda and ISIS) and Islamism (Brotherhood for example) were defeated was by nuts and bolts background work - intelligence, FATF, but also targeted assassinations (1/4) That is - war (Afghanistan and ofc Iraq - which was a mess anyway) was a blunt instrument that had a very mixed RoI to counter the terrorism in these cases

Second: Countering terror requires abandoning some of the principles of “liberal democracy”. Mass surveillance….(2/4)

Long thread: The latest brouhaha about Sadhguru- Mahashivaratri sparked a broader thought - on universal versus specific and how that’s a false binary when it comes to Hindu Dharma and hence distancing from Hinduism isn’t the right approach for universalisation (1/n) S.N. Balagangadhara had an astute analysis of the two ways in which Christian ideas spread - evangelisation, and “secularisation”. Secularisation being the process by which Christian ideas shed their outward Christian visage but get projected as universally applicable ideas (2/n)

Short thread: On the occasion of #MahaShivaratri sharing 4 Carnatic keerthanams composed by my mother. These are phone recordings, not studio ones though. The first is “Adimudikana” - a song in Ganamurthi ragam, about Shiva in all the 5 elements on.soundcloud.com/SaB77Xxz9BVay9… (1/5) The second is a song “Chidambaranadanin” in Sriranjani ragam on.soundcloud.com/RDERCrZ7kG3Bci… (2/5)

Unity IN diversity is a deep concept. It is not unity AND diversity, it is recognising that the universal manifests in the specific. One doesn’t have to annihilate any source of diverse identity in order to feel one with the universal identity. See Kantara. The specific resonates Identity cannot be reduced to a common minimum program like some coalition government. Its richness derives from its rootedness. From the specific traditions, carefully nurtured and passed on through generations. But each of those is a path to the universal truth.

Watched and liked “Ponniyin Selvan”. Mani Ratnam has rediscovered his mojo, ARR sadly hasn’t - music (both the songs and the BGM) were the weak link of the movie. Though I am a fan of both ARR and IR, can’t help thinking how much the movie would have been elevated by the latter It is a very plot driven movie, given the palace intrigue and the multiple political conspiracies. What Mani Ratnam did very well was establishing the characters with very good storytelling economy, given the high plot density. Even more felt that bad BGM let the movie down….

Thread: Happy Navaratri to everyone. On this occasion our tradition is to have the Bommala Koluvu - a display of depictions from Hindu lore (1/14) A section on Sri Krishna - starting with his birth in Mathura, his childhood in Gokul and Vrindavan and ending with Kansa Vadha. Eagerly anticipating going to that region with the family later this year (2/14)

Recommend the book “Light in the Forest” by @bhoomiputraa. Written for people similar to me- who had an upbringing that has significant “modern” Macaulayputra influence BUT also a strong traditional influence, and seek to emphasise the latter for ourselves and our next gen (1/n) The book is simply written as it should be (as it also targets children)- with an outline of the basic concepts of Hinduism in the first couple of chapters, including what our values for daily life are (2/n)

If something, like technology platforms and the economy, is weaponised for one reason (Russia invading Ukraine) it is a very limiting lesson to learn that it means invasions are costly. The broader lesson is these are weapons that can be readily summoned by the US. (1/4) And like with all weapons, you go by capability, not intent. Intent can change overnight. So today if it was a weapon wielded against an invasion, tomorrow something smaller can be used for a perceived smaller infraction. You can’t expose yourself to a vulnerability (2/4)

Short thread: Glad that the HC has ruled in favour of the Karnataka govt. Some nuances though:
1. The context is a uniform in an educational institution. The extreme framing by liberals that one has some unfettered right to wear whatever you want in any context was bizarre (1/n) So a govt or a college administration or any private institution should have the right to impose a dress code or uniform. Neither is the "right to practice religion" violated by a uniform
2. However I think a hijab (but NOT a burqa) should be accommodated in a dress code....(2/n)

“There is no country that can rival the Indian Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture. It has not only a geographic unity, but it has over and above all a deeper and a much more fundamental unity— the indubitable cultural unity that covers the land from end to end.” The logical mistake many make is to think that the existence of diversity in itself means there is no fundamental unity. That there is some loose super structure on organic entities (states/ regions, communities etc.). That mistake arises because it is inconceivable to some….

If one appraises the govt (Union and states) on execution last year, the two big misses are 1. State govts not being able to spend budgeted amount on capex 2. Union unable to collect non tax revenues as budgeted. I wonder if both are state capacity, specifically org design issues Hypothesis- why would each have happened? State govts either don’t have such a pipeline of projects or are unable to adapt to remote work to get projects executed. Similarly privatisation and asset monetisation probably lacks the org design for speedy execution ramp-up

Modi’s economic philosophy: 1. Fiscally conservative 2. “Moderniser” - believes in infra development and formalisation 3. New Welfarism - public provision of basic private goods which prevent poverty traps 4. Reformer - orientation towards a greater private sector participation.. …5. Visible hand for manufacturing - industrial and trade policy geared towards making India a manufacturing hub.

That doesn’t make him a Reagan - Thatcher style neoliberal, nor a “socialist”. Maybe a US Whig would be better parallel, but even that is a different context.

Thread: Both the left liberal and non-left in India are largely unintellectual- but in very different ways. The left liberals are largely intellectually derivative - copy pasting ideas from the west as low grade translators. BUT that gives a huge advantage (1/n) Which is access to a body of knowledge. So from philosophy to rhetoric to even policy detail, there is an advantage of scale, of tapping into that work. And since left liberalism is anyway axiomatic derivation and context independent, the same can be used as is. (2/n)

PVNR was partially “reforms by stealth” and it was also during a crisis. ABV reformed openly. But both lost, not *because* of reforms, but they neither helped nor hurt.

UPA was not “reforms by stealth”, rather zero reforms but massive stealth - stealing public money that is. Neither is all governance=economic policy, nor is all economic policy = “reforms”. Industrial policy, fiscal policy, infra are not “reforms”, but important, even more critical than “reforms”. And governance goes beyond economic policy as well- defence, education, social issues

Thread: “Religion” (actually Dharma, mistranslated) does permeate many aspects of Indian life (it is not just an undercurrent). But actually India or Hinduism isn’t the exception here. Not just Indic faiths, even Islam permeates the lives of its adherents. (1/n) “Religion”, culture are inextricably linked. That there could be a separation of public and private spheres, and that religion is a matter of “private belief” not necessarily public observance and culture is ONLY Christian theology, and unintelligible to other societies. (2/n)

Thread: Last evening, our house owner, whom we had over for dinner, was narrating an anecdote about our villa complex’s watchman from UP. He had gone back home only to find that his brother had sold one of their ancestral lands to someone. The sale was technically “legal” (1/n) The watchman then appealed to the Panchayat. Not just the Panchayat elders, but even the buyer of the land, on hearing of the fact that the seller had not consulted his own brother before selling their ancestral land, saw that as a violation of “Dharam” (2/n)

Thread: Happy #Janmashtami everyone. Sharing 7 bhajans/ Carnatic songs about Lord Krishna composed (both music and lyrics) by my mother - Smt. Meera Alladi; 5 in Hindi, and 2 Tamil. The first "Govinda, Tere Bina" in Janasammohini ragam, Hindi (1/8) The second is "Shyam Tere Naam", Jog Ragam, Hindi (2/8)

Musing: If you model sections of the academia and media - what is called the “intellectual ecosystem”, not as a free market, but as a closed oligopoly, actually not even that because there is no market test, then one can see why bad ideas perpetuate. (1/n) In the “real world” that many of us inhabit, large companies that are not innovative, get disrupted by more agile startups or attackers. That’s not as easy in the “intellectual ecosystem” because there is no currency such as actual consumer purchases, that acts as a test (2/n)

Some policy analysts confidently saying India should take in lots of refugees from Afghanistan. See what happened in Kabul. People who operate in the real world know that many decisions have to be taken with incomplete information, and that malign actors want to harm us. “bUt tHe OrDiNaRy AfGhAn lOvEs iNdIa”- yes they do, and this is a tragedy. Tell me how you have the deep perception to know, *without prior information*, who is an ordinary Afghan versus an ISI trained terrorist to wreak havoc in India?